finishing question

[cal thelen]

hello. just finished a bowl out of white birch and i gave it a coat of blo. now wondering if i can finish up with woodturners finish or do i need a coat of shellac in between. thanks for any advise

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Cal,
I see this one got left unanswered so I will give you my opinion. I like using a coat of 2 lb. cut dewaxed shellac over oil if I intend to spray a hard finish. Shellac is a miracle finish in that it sticks to oil and doesn't hamper the topcoat. You can also use shellac as a top coat even though it may not be durable for a bowl that gets used a lot.
faust

[Reid Strand]

Cal- I called General Finishes before Christmas with a similar question as I was rushing to finish some gifts. Yes you can put it on over oil, but only if you give the oil plenty of time to dry, as in a couple of weeks. I didn't have the time, so I used the zinser shellac sealer after 2 or 3 days and have had no problems.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I called GF also like Reid because I wasn't sure. They said and I am guessing this is for any finsih going over BLO is that the BLO must be dry. They did also say that shellac would help with the situation.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Cal,
I just noticed you are in Wisconsin. I was visiting Lands End in Dodgeville some years ago and the temperature was 17 below zero. You will probably have to wait until summer till the oil thaws out before it will dry. :)
faust